Chan Lowe: GEO Group yanks FAU stadium funding

Geo Group yanks FAU stadium funding

Geo Group yanks FAU stadium funding

Chan Lowe

Every day, Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders reinforces the argument that she’s a bad fit for her job. The top priority for a university head is to raise funds. Maybe she’s good at that; I’m sure the board of trustees considered it when hiring her. But there are other considerations unique to the higher education context requiring a defter touch than that of a mere schmoozer of rich people.

Ms. Saunders should have realized, for example, that the critical period when young people are stretching their wings is the only time in life when they can throw pragmatism to the winds and be entirely idealistic. They aren’t thinking about the six million bucks in naming fees that will sustain their stadium; they’re thinking that the would-be benefactor is a private prison corporation with a reputation for mistreating inmates. They possess the righteous fervor of those who have not yet lived long enough to become cynical (excuse me, “realistic”), and worse, social media have made it possible for these young people to create a public stink far beyond their numbers.

That isn’t to say the deal with GEO Group didn’t have the sulfurous aroma of a Faustian pact about it. Where was Saunders willing to draw the line? What if that new horsemeat slaughterhouse in Oklahoma had coughed up the dough? What’s ironic about the failed deal is that naming rights are supposed to enhance a company’s image. Now the whole world knows about GEO Group’s inhumane business practices, and FAU (whose image can little withstand another hit) is tainted by a relationship that never even paid off, except for half a mil kicked into a scholarship program as a consolation prize.

It’s the worst possible outcome for a situation that had disaster written all over it from the outset. It takes a special talent to turn a six-million-dollar silk purse into a sow’s ear. Unfortunately, that’s not a talent FAU needs in its president.